Sermon Tone Analysis

Ill: 2nd Layer of Our Foundation: Prayer & the Knowledge of God as our Salvation

When it comes to scripture on Prayer they are a lot of great place to turn

the Lords prayer of or maybe the High Priestly prayer of Christ in we could look to the songs of acts where through the prayer of the saints Peter is freed from Jail, the chains of Paul are broken, ect… these are some magnificent prayers and they teach us a lot about the work that God can do when we pray, but today I want us to turn to a different prayer, one found in the book of Psalms, one that for many has been left untended and often ignored.

It is a prayer that no song has been written of, no inspiration from this text has lead to a number one worship song, and for the most part probably never will.

Yet Studying scripture this psalm is probably one of these greats examples of what it means to pray and the need for prayer and faith through all of life’s trials.

So as a people we must lay a foundation of Prayer at the heart of our faith, but these prayers don’t just flow from hearts that have seen good days and rejoice, but also from hearts that are experiencing the Dark Night of the Soul

Prayer & Entrusting ourselves to Go

James Montgomery happily described what real prayer is when he wrote,—

“Prayer is the soul’s sincere desire,

Utter’d or unexpress’d:

The motion of a hidden fire,

That trembles in the breast.

“Prayer is the burden of a sigh,

The falling of a tear;

The upward glancing of an eye,

When none but God is near.

“Prayer is the simplest form of speech

That infant lips can try;

Prayer the sublimest strains that reach

The Majesty on high.

“Prayer is the contrite sinner’s voice

Returning from his ways;

While angels in their songs rejoice,

And cry, ‘Behold he prays!’

”

Our text today will do just that as we see in the heart of Lament a new Kind of Faithfulness that we may not think possible in the midst of pain, doubt and suffering.

So let us begin by reading our text and then from there unpacking this prayer....

Contextual History of

Lament Psalms:

-This is 1 of 59 Songs of Lament that Make up the Psalter (but the only one that ends so open ended without a resolution or strong declaration of hope

-Now Lament Psalms making up 39% of the Psalter are actually the Largest single Genre in the book (pointing to the reality that any aspect of the Christian faith that deals with our inner being and expressions of those emotions before God will deal with suffering, anxiety, depression, doubt, and fear)

Who Is Herman & why so Sad

-He is listed as a son of Korah and one of the Singers at the Temple

-As a Son of Korah he has a rather sketcy History since it was from His clan that

-In the book of Solomon Wisdom is equated to Heman’s and then said to be greater (which says a lot about Heman)

-Also In the Book of 1 Chronicles (6:33, 25:5) we are given a biographical sketch of Heman as we see that he was appointed by David to be the chief musician along with his brother Asaph.

We are also told he had 14 Sons and 3 Daughters, all said to be musicians

-He is the Only named Author in any of the 12 Korahite Psalms

-As A member of the Korahite Line Heman would have a first hand picture of the grace and mercy of God towards his family (in his ancestors lead a rebellion against Moses and were swallowed up by the earth, and yet God seemed to spare some of his descendents (, and they rose in prominence to become musicians and writers of the scriptures themselves.

Pointing to the reality that God is the God of Salvation in spite of Brokenness or Family baggage.

Why Does this Matter: Because the titles of Psalms are often just as informative and instructive as they give us insight into who wrote it and why that may be important

-For us when we come to this text in knowledge of where the prayer originates we know that the end for this man appears to be greatness and fame, and yet this is one of the relaities of his life.

He was a man who is faithful to God and blessed in scripture and yet suffered in his soul.

Yet in His suffering he taught us to pray

For we are reminded that the Psalms are an important aspect to all the churches and top those of the faith

So let us do this now as we examine the reality of Lament and prayer knowing that it is acceptable to pour our hearts out to God

I.

The Prayers of Lament are Continual (1-2, 9b, 13)

Throughout this Psalm Heman is continually reminding us that this is not a pity party or a complain but an active prayer, his life is marked by one of Prayer through the suffering, through the pain and through the unknown.

He Knows that only salvation Comes from the Lord and so it is to Him that he turns

So for us this reminds us that through it all Prayer must be a continual aspect of our journey through Good and evil

Spurgeon when coming to this text rejoiced for to him it taught about the well worn path that others had travelled:

Ill: Washing up on a deserted Island and finding tracks in the sand

So Here we see the Footprints in the sand calling us to walk, and yet it is easy to lose sight of God at times in trouble

-In the book of Job Satan speaks of using suffering against Job to prove that Job’s faith is only skin deep (he only worships God because of the good he receives)

Yet what we see throughout the book of Job is very Different:

Jo

-The rest of the book will bear out that Jobs faith is unwavering even though throughout he will be confused and the events taking place in his life (it is not till the end that resolution is made and even then the resolution's is to know that God is the god of my salvation, not the God who reveals every detail of the plan to mortal men)

-So he never ceases to plead his case and the Lord finds him righteous through it all, yet as we know our pleads in the midst of lament are not guarantees that our troubles will be dispersed, for some of them may teach us great things about God and about ourselves as Paul

-Paul comes to God continually looking for reprieve (he doesn’t abandon his hope in God because things are difficult or even as we see when he is told he will have to live with the Thorn, rather he see that his faith is in the Lord alone.

Examples of Hymn Writers:

William Cowper best known for : There is a Fountain & God Moves in Mysterious ways (best friends and co laborer with John Newton: Amazing Grace)

1. God moves in a mysterious way, His wonders to perform.

He plants his footsteps on the sea, And rides upon the storm.

2. Ye fearful saints fresh courage take, The clouds you so much dread,

Are big with mercy, and shall break, With blessings on your head.

3. Judge not the Lord by feeble sense, But trust him for his grace.

Behind a frowning providence, He hides a smiling face.

4. His purposes will ripen fast, Unfolding every hour.

The bud may have a bitter taste, But sweet will be the flower.

5. Blind unbelief is sure to err, And scan His work in vain.

God is His own interpreter, And He will make it plain.

John Newton writes in the preface to the Olney Hymns that he was so discouraged when Cowper was struck ill that he set aside the project and almost never completed it.

There is a story (perhaps apocryphal) that "God Moves" was the last hymn that Cowper ever wrote, as he felt his insanity coming upon him again.

Reading the hymn in this light brings great pathos to lines such as “Blind unbelief is sure to err
 / And scan His work in vain / God is His own interpreter / And He will make it plain.”

The hymn is a call to trust the Lord, even in the dark ().

But I love that it was written by one who knew firsthand the difficulty of this.

Documents

Cello PartLead SheetPiano Mus FileString Quartet ScoreViola PartViolin 1 PartViolin 2 PartXMLChordDemoPowerpointPiano MusicMUS

Hymn Info

Text William Cowper Music Jeremy Casella Meter 8686

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II.

The Prayers of Lament are Honest (3-9a, 10-12, 14-18)

-He Doesn’t Hide his emotions from God

-Anne Steele (1717-1778)most Prolific Baptist Hymn writer: She was injured when she fell from a horse at 19 and spent most of her life dealing with the ramifications of her injuries (eventually spending the final 9 years of her life bed ridden

1. Dear refuge of my weary soul,

On Thee, when sorrows rise

On Thee, when waves of trouble roll,

My fainting hope relies

To Thee I tell each rising grief,

For Thou alone canst heal

Thy Word can bring a sweet relief,

For every pain I feel

2. But oh!

When gloomy doubts prevail,

I fear to call Thee mine

The springs of comfort seem to fail,

And all my hopes decline